Explore this expedition

Get back to me form
We’ll answer your questions

How would you prefer us to contact you?

By EmailBy Phone

Join a team of international and local researchers to learn about and protect the fossa of Madagascar.

You’ll become immersed in the forests of Madagascar as you hike to the research areas, often for up to 12 miles (20 kilometers) a day. You’ll rotate among a variety of tasks: setting traps for fossas and checking them in the early morning and late afternoon, helping to radiotrack fossas, and perhaps helping to measure trapped and sedated animals.

You’ll have a chance to spot some of Madagascar’s many lemur species. Midday is often free for informal lectures or hikes through the fossa’s forest home. In the evenings you may join in gatherings or ceremonies in the nearby village of Ampijoroa.

Lead scientists

Accommodation and food

Why the research is important

Why the research is important

Your help comes in the nick of time, as deforestation and hunting threaten many of these special mammals and their habitat.

The survival of Madagascar’s carnivores depends upon our ability to learn about and provide for their needs.

Madagascar’s lemurs are famous, but their rare predator the fossa remains a mystery. The catlike fossa is a large relative of the civets and mongooses. Seven of the eight civet-like carnivores that stalk Madagascar’s forests are found nowhere else in the world. Their habits and population status are virtually unknown. Earthwatch teams are monitoring carnivore populations in the forests.

Dr. Luke Dollar releases a fossa after conducting research.

Madagascar is the third largest island in the world and part of the Madagascar and Indian Ocean islands biodiversity hotspot. Increased development in Madagascar has led to degradation of the island’s natural heritage. What remains of natural habitat is contained within national parks, but these are lightly managed at best. The Ankarafantsika National Park in northwest Madagascar is one of the largest tracts of dry deciduous forest left.

As the first long-term study of Madagascar carnivores, this project is building a wealth of knowledge and helping to develop management plans and practical activities for conservation. The goal of the project is to study the abundance, behavior, and conservation ecology of carnivores across Madagascar, with primary focus on the fossa.

About the research area

Ankarafantsika National Park, Madagascar, Africa

You’ll be based at Ampijoroa Research Station in Ankarafantsika, Mahajanga Province. The station serves the 333,592-acre (1,350-square-kilometer) Ankarafantsika Protected Areas Complex, one of the last and largest tracts of dry deciduous forest in Madagascar. The area has more than 13 miles (20 kilometers) of well-marked trails through the forest that features tall baobab trees, stands of precious woods such as palisandre, and many species of orchid. Ankarafantsika boasts seven lemur species, including the acrobatic Coquerel’s sifaka, the rare mongoose lemur, and the nocturnal woolly, sportive, and mouse lemurs. A variety of bird, reptile, and amphibian species also inhabit the area.

Volunteers are guests living near a traditional Malagasy village. You may be invited to participate in village activities or ceremonies. The local people work extraordinarily hard to help this project succeed. A heartfelt “thank you” or “misaotra betsaka tompoko” is the best way of expressing gratitude for Malagasy hospitality.

Ankarafantsika National Park, Madagascar

Daily life in the field

Itinerary

Day 1: Rendezvous in Mahajanga, transport to research site, set up and introductions

Day 2: Team training, forest tour, dinner and program

Days 3-11:

Daily activity includes:

• Safely trapping fosas

• Tracking fosa prey

• Surveying remote forest

Day 12: Special dinner hosted by local community

Day 13: Departure

As a volunteer, you'll help the research staff:

Hike to safely trap fosas. Twice a day, walk between traps throughout the forest. If you find a fosa that's been caught, you'll likely help measure, radio-collar, and safely release the animal. Volunteers who go in December won't trap any fosas, because the females are likely to be pregnant then and trapping could cause undue stress.

Hike to survey fosa prey. Trek the forest while counting and observing lemurs and other potential prey.

Survey remote areas of the park. You may also explore the more remote parts of Ankarafantsika National Park with a staff guide to conduct ecological and GIS surveys in the unsurveyed forests beyond the research station area.

Hike the road through the national park. Walk the 11-mile stretch of national highway that bisects Ankarafantsika, collecting data on animals killed by passing vehicles. This important work is the driving force behind the installation of speed bumps, which has resulted in a reduction in the number of fatalities of Ankarafantsika’s wildlife.

Analyze data. You may use radio-telemetry data from radio-collared fosas to map their movements and sort images taken by camera traps.

Mealtimes and optional morning and afternoon activities provide opportunities for team interaction and development. Special seminars and lessons may be given by research staff, Malagasy graduate assistants, and invited guests to large groups after during non-research times.

While the fossa looks catlike, it's most closely related to the mongoose.

MEET THE OTHER SCIENTISTS

Accommodations and Food

Accommodations and Food

You’ll stay at a tented research station with showers and pit toilets in Ankarafantsika National Park, Mahajanga Province, in the northwest part of Madagascar.

Staff cooks will prepare local fare, based on rice and beans, vegetables, and fruit, topped off occasionally with exquisite, locally produced chocolates.

Meat dishes will also be available, served separately from vegetarian fare. There are a couple of small stores nearby with a limited variety of items for purchase (soda, etc.), as well as a cooler with soft drinks at the research station.